


Somthing Wicked

by olivemartini



Series: the heavy hearts we hold together [18]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-12-05 12:59:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11578554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/olivemartini/pseuds/olivemartini
Summary: Things are going good.So maybe she should have expected it when things got really bad.





	Somthing Wicked

He tells her that he loves her.

Like,  _I love you, now please don't get angry when I spend all night on the phone with doctors._

Or,  _I love you, so I need you just to understand when I go spend a week with my mother at a study that isn't really doing anything for her._

Sometimes it's,  _I love you_ instead of  _thank you_ when she spends all night picking up the pieces after he falls apart, because nothing the doctors are trying is working, and his mother just got kicked out of the study, and he's really running out of options.

And when she says  _I'm going to help, of course I'm helping_ after he says  _I'm bringing my mother to stay with me for a while,_ he says  _I love you_ and nothing else.

Beatrice always says it back, because its the truth, and its really the only thing she can say when she watches him put himself through so much pain.

 

 

She likes Diana.

Even more surprising is the fact that Diana likes her, even more so than she likes her own son, sometimes.  Beatrice can get her to eat, to take her medicine, to go lie down and calm herself when things get a bit overwhelming.  She's an escape both for mother and son, someone to work as the go between when all the painful emotions make it hard to do what needs to be done.

"She likes you."  Reid tells her, a smile on his face and one arm wrapped around her shoulder.  A lesser man would resent his mother for what she's put him through all her life, all the abuse and the nuisances and the pain.  Reid doesn't.  He loves her with everything he has, his last person he's allowed to cling to for some comfort.  "I didn't expect her to."

Beatrice laughs, and the sudden sound makes Diana look over with a start, frown turning into a smile when she takes in the sight of him.  "Such a charmer."

He grins, pulling her closer to him.  Beatrice likes to see him so happy, with the smile on his face.  It's better for him to have Diana here, to monitor the problem and have someone close, to prove to himself that he's doing the right thing. Even if maybe it's not the best thing for Diana.  "That's not what I meant."

She knew what he meant.  Diana doesn't like many people.  She hadn't before, with her paranoia, and the current situation hasn't improved things.  But she liked Beatrice, because she listened to stories about Spencer and liked to talk about books and new different mythologies, and maybe was very good at using a soothing tone when she got upset.  "That's a good sign for us, right?"

Beatrice says the words before thinking about what they might imply, if they imply anything at all.  Spencer just smiles and pulls her in a little tighter.

 

 

Things are good, and then they aren't.

They aren't, because it's not good for Diana to be cooped up in this little apartment where she doesn't no anyone and can't take in a breath of fresh air, let alone feel the sun on her face.  They aren't, because she does things like drive away the nurse and flood apartments and hit Spencer, which inevitably means that Beatrice is going to get a call asking her to go over and hold down the fort until Spencer manages to come home.

"I'm sorry,"  He tells her miserably, after Diana has an episode where she apparently dumped her medicine down the toilet.  (Or dumped something she thought was medicine, Beatrice counted, and it's all there.)  Spencer still has a red mark on his face where she hit him, which he lied to his mother about because she can't remember it.  "I thought this was going to be easier."

For a moment, Beatrice considers saying that she told him so, or bringing up the idea that they should send Diana back to the assisted living home like she wants.  But she doesn't, just pulls Spencer to her for a hug and wishes that it'd be possible for her to make everything better.  "It's going to be okay.  I'm here for everything.  Even the bad stuff."

He nods and says thank you, but she can tell that part of him isn't sure he wants to believe her.

 

He leaves.

It's a three day thing where he goes and talks to the doctors.  Except those three days stretch out longer, and Beatrice found herself working with the new nurse to make a care plan and paying for it herself ( _which she can't afford, and Reid knows it, so where is he_ ) and she's starting to have to fight down panic every time she calls and Reid doesn't answer.

Then the phone rings, and she's happy, but it makes things ten times worse.

 

 

"Why is he in Mexico?"  Beatrice doesn't really know what to say other than that, so she keeps repeating it, looking at an equally confused JJ and Garcia.  "He was supposed to be in  _Houtson._ In Texas. That's where he told me he would be."

JJ looks over at Garcia, who forces a cup of tea in her hands.  Beatrice hates tea, but she drinks it anyways just so she has something to do with her hands.  "We don't know."  JJ is using her voice, the one she uses to calm down the mothers and fathers and sons and daughters and spouses that she comes into contact with.  Beatrice is one of those people now.  "But we need to ask you a few questions.  Anything you remember about the past few days will help."

Beatrice stares down into her tea.  "He was there because of his mother."  It feels like betrayal, but if it means getting him back to her, she'd tell them everything.  "I promise that was the reason."

 

 

They get to take him home, which is sort of a relief but kind of not.

Prison in America is better than prison in Mexico, but that doesn't stop her from thinking about Reid locked up, Reid stuck in a cell with nothing to do or think about or puzzle through, Reid surrounded by all kinds of scary men who could be doing anything they wanted to him.  And there was nothing that Beatrice or JJ or Rossi or Prentiss could do about it.

She doesn't get to see him until his initial hearing, and she's ready for Rossi to pay for it and to be able to take him home.  Then she's going to yell at him, but it doesn't get that far, because Reid won't look at her when he walks into that court and the judge won't give him bail, anyways.

Reid turns back to them, and Beatrice leans over the divider even though she knows it looks unprofessional or something.  She's holding onto him, but he can't hold her back because he's in chains, and the metal is cold against her skin.  "It's going to be okay,"  He tells her, but it isn't and both of them know it.

"I'll take care of your mom."  It's the best thing she can offer him at the moment, but she can see that it's a relief, even as he's pulled away from her and led somewhere else.  "They'll get you out, and you can come home to me, okay?"

He hears her, but he doesn't answer, just looks at someone behind her and lets himself be led away from her.

 

 

Beatrice says that she loves him.

 _I love you,_ whispered into the dark with a rosary clutched in her hands, like the words will work as a prayer to keep him safe.  Beatrice thinks that it will, so she keeps praying, and keeps saying things that are true,  _I love him, he's innocent, let him come home to me, okay, God?"_

And,  _I love you,_ murmured as she's closing her eyes and counting to ten when Diana starts to refuse to eat and asks too many questions that Beatrice doesn't have answers for.

 _I love you, I love you, I love you,_ but what she's really saying is something along the lines of, this is sort of your fault, you should have trusted me, how could you do this to us?

 _I love you,_ she says while wearing one of his shirts and wrapped in sheets that are quickly losing his scent.

He's not there to say it back.

 


End file.
